The Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (colloquially Wuhan Union Hospital Cancer Center, UHCC), integrating patient care, scientific research and clinical training, is among the largest cancer centers in general hospitals in China.

History and Faculty

Its history began in 1987, when Union Hospital established the Department of Clinical Oncology. The Department of Clinical Oncology was moved to the current location and expanded to a much larger scale, i.e., the Division of Clinical Oncology in 2002. Then in 2005, the cancer center was officially renamed as "Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology", i.e., UHCC. The UHCC gained the National Key Discipline by the National Health Commission of China in 2013. Meanwhile, UHCC also took on more responsibility in the aspects of cultivating young talents, and in 2014 it was recognized as a Nationally Standardized Training Program Base for resident radiation oncologists. With decades of rapid development, the scale of the department extended and moved across the town. By the end of September 2020, UHCC had been staffed with 651 medical employees, including 116 certified radiation and medical oncologists, 410 nursing attendants and 105 medical technicians. In the staff are 37 full and associate professors. All members pool their profound experiences and acclaimed expertise in cancer treatment, research and teaching.

Patient Care

UHCC is committed to provide the high-quality and compassionate care for cancer patients. Equipped with 1,016 patient-beds, UHCC consists of the Division of Clinical Oncology and Division of Surgical Oncology. The Division of Clinical Oncology is an academic department specialized on full spectrum of non-surgical cancer services including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, biological targeted therapy and palliative care. It owns 760 patient-beds and is further divided into 7 sub-specialties: Department of Head & Neck Oncology, Department of Breast Oncology, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Department of Abdominal Oncology, Department of Urologic & Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Lymphoma, and Department of Bone & Soft-Tissue Sarcoma. The Division of Surgical Oncology consists of 4 surgical departments in UHCC, including Department of Thyroid & Breast Surgery, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Abdominal Surgery, and Department of Bone & Soft Tissue Surgery. Besides, the Cancer Pain Clinic and the One-Day-Care Unit to facilitate the cure experience are also established. UHCC leads the concept of patient-centered care, in which patients are cared not only by physicians and nurses, but also in areas of physical work, emotional needs, social connection, and self actualization. It opens comforting house to help patients relieve and make social connection, conduct lectures and encourage them to move through their cancer experiences. In UHCC, everything centers on cancer but not merely cancer.

Scientific Research

The physician‒scientists of UHCC devote themselves to the mechanism research for a deeper insight into the tumor biology, as well as the translational research to bridge the laboratory and the clinic. In a period from 2008-2020, approximate 400 of research findings have been published in SCI-indexed journals, such as Lancet Oncology, Science Advances, Nature Communications, Hepatology, ACS Nano, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research and PNAS. Since 2008, more than 100 vertical scientific research projects have been funded and the center has been supported by the national projects, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (100 items until 2021). UHCC has pioneered many clinical trials over the years. It has forged a groundbreaking path to conduct tumor molecular target detection since 2007, and provides precise therapies based on genetic profiles of individuals.

Radiation Center

UHCC offers the most advanced radiation service in central China. It introduced intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in 2003. Now it is equipped with a series of cut-edged radiation facilities, including TOMO, Cyberknife, Varian Halcyon and imaging accessory system. Radiation Center ensures cancer patients the precise and optimized radiotherapy by advanced IGRT, VMAT and SBRT technologies. Prominently, as the only institute who gained the National Photon Therapy License in central China in September 2019, the Proton Center is now under accelerating construction in full swing.

Educational Training

UHCC provides abundant educational programs and opportunities for the young generation. The undergraduates are offered with classroom and online instructions and hands-on clinical experiences. As for postgraduate fellows and residents, tailored clinical training and research programs would enable them to become competent practitioners and lifelong learners with professionalism, humanism and leadership qualities. Oncologists here enjoy continuing medical education with a broad variety of workshops, conferences and programs. Additionally, UHCC keeps close partnerships with excellent cancer institutes in North America and Europe. By maintaining joint programs and combining different novel approaches, views and research, they work together in the commitment to conquer cancer.